Two golf clubs see their rents rise by 80,000%

By Martyn Clapham
December 8, 2014 11:31

Two private members’ golf clubs at L’Ancresse in Guernsey that both lease the land from their local council have been told that their rents will rise by just under 80,000 percent in less than two years’ time.

Royal Guernsey Golf Club. Image by ‘AmandaK’

Both Royal Guernsey and L’Ancresse have a 70-year lease in which they pay £100 per year for rent that expires in 2016 to Vale Commons Council. The council has said it wants the rent to increase to £80,000 per annum.

The golf clubs have both stated that the proposal is unfair and have rejected the council’s plans. They have said they already pay £500,000 towards the maintenance of the common where they are based each year, and they are prepared to pay a substantially increased rent of about £50,000 per year.

However, the council has said the course may be opened to the public or used for something else if the lease was not agreed.

It has also said it needs to raise about £160,000 per year to fund the future maintenance of the entire common.

Approximately half of Vale Commons is devoted to golf. The two golf clubs between them have about 1,500 members and the proposal for the new lease is for it to last 25 years.

2 Comments

It’s not Jersey…it’s Guernsey!
And be it Jersey or Guernsey we aren’t all, as some press would have it, tax haven millionaires.
Despite no VAT our cost of living in Guernsey is higher than mainland, petrol @1.40 odd per litre etc etc.
We have a falling, ageing membership at our Club and this new levy on our fees will not help at all.